📝10/10 → FAVOURITE!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: “THE QUINTESSENCE”

The Quintessence begins with an atmospheric Part 1, which sees Jo Grant led into a huge and seemingly empty manor house by a strange and playful child in a chilling dream sequence that sets up the narrative. I like how we then get into the adventure straight away when Three and Jo decide to investigate the alien planet with the mansion.

Doctor Who has always done spooky tales well, and The Quintessence taps into that with the stormy weather, the dimly lit Gothic mansion house, its inhabitants, who seem to know Jo from before, and the slowly unravelling alien presence. The talk of angels, seances, and heavenly songs only strengthens the creepy atmosphere before the brilliant cliffhanger reveal in Part 1—it’s the Cybermen!

The cast is pretty small, so we learn to know the Pepperdine family quite well and understand their situation, their motivations, and their actions. And all members are superbly performed, but especially Chris Larkin (the son of Dame Maggie Smith!) as Arthur and Felicity Cant as his daughter Emmeline. The character arc Arthur and Emmeline go through in this audio is powerful and made me feel revolted and heartbroken at the same time.

Part 2 further adds to the tension by revealing that the Cybermen have been instructing the Pepperdines to convert themselves into Cybermen remotely, and this is both creepy and heartbreaking to hear the partly converted Emmeline. Part 3 then further complicates things when we learn about Arthur’s scientific tinkering, leading to one of the more effective cliffhangers I’ve heard in a BF release in a long time.

Part 5 delivers another twist and effectively messes with our heads by completely changing the narrative (and introducing the lovely dog Houdini; what an apt name). Jo and Emmeline seemingly live a peaceful life together, but this simulated reality is constantly disturbed by the dark reality pushing through. Felicity Cant steal the show in this part with that unnerving performance of hers. This entire part is increasingly unnerving to listen to and is one of the creepiest single parts I’ve heard from Big Finish in a long time.

Part 6 sticks the landing with a great emotional turnout that pits Jo and the Cybermen against the Doctor. This is where Tim Treloar steps up as he tries to convince Jo that eternal life without death and suffering isn’t worth it.

We return to Mondas in this story, and it’s always exciting to see the people and the development on the planet.

Katy Manning is back as the older Jo, and she fits very naturally into the story. She delivers one of the strongest performances for Big Finish here, especially in the second half of the adventure. Tim Treloar is superb as the Third Doctor, and together with Manning, he easily taps into the lovely relationship between Jo and the Doctor.

The Cybermen are made very effective in the story and not overused like in many other instances. The Cyberplanner is great, especially once we learn that it’s Emmeline inside the casing.

The performances and sound ensign perfectly evoke the early 70s era, and the regular twists and tense moments make this six-parter flow extremely well. There are also several quite unnerving scenes of emotional and physical torture that are difficult to listen to, giving The Quintessence an effectively palpable, creepy, and stressful atmosphere.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

• The mix of Victorian and Gothic aesthetics with robotic foes using portals to break through from their world to ours brings to mind a similar setup in Evil of the Daleks, while the slow conversion of people into Cybermen shares vibes with the Big Finish Main Range release Spare Parts.